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Hi guys, I am preparing a 4×4 Motorhome for an overland trip.
Can you please drop me an email to let me know what you did for vehicle insurance?
I’m really struggling with this “out of the box” requirement.

Hello, thank you for letting us look at your truck at the show yesterday. It was lovely to meet you all and talk about your trip.
I always loved travel, but since I’ve been in the wheelchair we been limited a bit. We are now looking at ways to build an accessible overland vehicle and make it happen.
Talked all the way home about our plans and how we can make it work for us.
Thanks again,
Nicky
(Home Ed family at the Overland Adventure Show in Stratford.)

Thank you 🙂
We are planning on blogging our adventures with the emphasis on how to overcome disability related issues. I’ll let you know when we are up and running. Who knows where this path could lead, but I know it will be fun!

Let us know when your blog is up and running, we’d love to keep up with your travels. We were so impressed with your plans and determination to carry out your exciting future adventure. Good luck with finding a vehicle and kitting it out properly.

Hello, apologies for not replying sooner, I wanted to wait until our blog was up and running (and it took longer than anticipated, like most things do!)
Anyway, we have a slightly basic and very bare website – http://www.llamacated-adventures.com
We are going to blog about our mini-adventures along the way and the planning stages of the big adventure, as well as the adventure itself. Hoping it will help other people to feel enabled, rather than disabled. 🙂

Hi Nicky. Lovely to see your website up and running and thank you for the lovely things you said about us. We look forward to reading all about your adventures. Good luck, there are so many beautiful places to see out there and I am sure you will be an inspiration to others. Have fun.

Hello there,
what you guys have done is my dream! I have 2 young children (under 3 years old) but we are planning something slightly smaller (Canada/ North America) once our youngest is 5. Is there any plan for a book?!
Regards Ben

Hi Ben ,thanks for your comment. We loved the start of Canada and the US. The National Parks were fantastic so good luck. Not sure about a book as I don’t think our writing skills are up to it, but who knows once the long English winter nights start 🙂

Strange that you lived in Verwood. I lived in three legged cross before moving to Sweden 8 years ago. Small world!! Can I ask you in a nutshell how you funded the trip- I’d like to do similar around the states and Canada! Did you get sponsorship? I understand it’s a personal question.. and surely I’m not the only one to have asked . Be safe out there Sir!
Kind regard Lee

I also asked this exact question a few years ago when the family were still in South America and, also respectful of Steve’s privacy, settled for the understandably guarded answer I received. However, it would indeed be incredibly useful to find out the sort of overall costs involved in this journey, and some or all of the ways by which it was funded. I too appreciate Steve’s reluctance to tell us more (unless he just won the lottery! lol) but now that its over it would massively help other would-be World travellers.
Thank you so much in advance Steve

Dearest
Maybe you have not noticed that Steven had to work very far away from his family for long time. I can totally comprehend him, we have a daughter that is now 19 years old and she grew without seeing me because I was always somewhere else, always on a plane, always into another country. As you may comprehend jobs like these are typically senior executive level and well paid. Sponsorships – i work in marketing – are part of a past that will be difficoult to see again. Revenues from web are, unless you are a communication expert and a great video maker, like peanuts.
To get a Man truck means an investment between 250k and 450k euros and you have then to sustain not less than 25-30k per year (all inclusive of food, fuel, transport, enetertainment, visa, shipping, etc excluding straordinary maintenance) for 2 people. We are planning since three years ago our 5-years trip around the globe and quickly understood that you have to sustain financially by yourself. We have plenty of time because we will leave in 7 years once our daughters will be adult and for this reason we are saving money and selling our house. Yes, you can be financially supported somehow with a reduction on camcorder or with a free shipping of maps and guides, but again we are talking about peanuts vs the toral you will need to manage a world tour. There are trucks on sale also for lower figures, an excellent one was sold for less than 50k in UK but it is a used one and this means great attention and additional expenses for sure, in any case its rare to find trucks with a good balance price/quality for this cheap prices.
I wish Stephen will answer to your requests confirming or not my above assumptions. Good luck to Everybody from Italy.

Aldo ,many thanks for this, it is very helpful and on point. We saved for many years for our trip and were not sponsored in any way. We did not work along the way but met some people who did to make a small amount of money. So as you say you need to save for the vehicle itself and the money you will spend whilst on the trip assuming you have no income along the way.

Hello Steve Gilly Alicia and Lucy, we’ve been thinking of you these days knowing you’re approaching the last kilometers… almost time to go shopping for school uniforms!! We send you plenty of positive thoughts during that period ;-)! Looking forward to see how it goes back in England!! 6GlobeTruckers family heading for lake Baikal in Sibéria!

HHeDear Steve, Gilly and girls, I have been following your blog since you started your excellent adventure and am full of admiration for you all. We have lived in a number of countries around the world but I have always fancied a trip like yours and so I find your blog really fascinating. Anyway, I see you are now in Kyrgyzstan and just wanted to say if you are passing through Kazakhstan and Astana at any point my family and I would love to say hello and maybe grab a coffee or something to eat in this futuristic city in the middle of the Steppe!! Keith, Linda and India

Hi Keith and family. Thanks for your lovely note and invitation. Unfortunately we are not heading your way as we will be heading from Tajikistan to Uzbekistan and then into Kazakhstan but only to hopefully cross the Caspian at Aktau. All the best.

We are Aldo and Stefania, a couple with two daughters of 13 and 19 years old and yes, we are planning our trip around the world in few years. Like you we are considering to buy a new MAN 4×4 and for this reason I would like to ask you a couple of information that can be extremely precious for us.

How it went with a brand new MAN along the road?
How did you manage the Adblue needs for the sulphur additives? We know that some overland factory manage the cpu to change the parameters, did you change the cpu?
Any suggestion about MAN (accessories that you suggest, buying, etc.)?

We will go to Bad Kissingen next year (this year the girls had their final exams at the school) but mainly to see which internal display suits best for us, because we will travel alone and only rarely with our daughters.

We will have to register the vehicle in UK where I run my Ltd company and for this reason my last question is regarding your bad experiences that I’ve read on your blog. Do you suggest to buy the MAN in UK and then to transform it into motorhome, or you still suggest to buy it complete from the manufacturer in Germany (they are all there)?

We will be grateful for any advice would come from you on the above issues. Should you want to email in private please do not hesitate.
Thank you once again for your time.

Thank you for your note and it’s great to hear you are planning an overland trip. We have been very happy with our MAN 4×4. I am not mechanically minded at all and we have managed around the world. Yes in some parts of the world parts are a problem but other than some small things we have not really needed any. We have timed our annual services for when we could get to a MAN dealer. North America is hard, South America manageable. Southern Africa and Australia good and Asia hit and miss.
However whilst we bought a new MAN at the time that was Euro5 which had the great benefit that it did not need adblue. So I am afraid we do not have experience with getting adblue. Ours is low sulphur and I can say it has managed with high sulphur diesel although we obviously buy low sulphur when we can. As such we did not adjust the cpu.

Going to Bad Kissinger is a great idea. This is where we formulated our plans. It is really useful and you will learn a lot.

Re the UK. This was a real pain. Despite us all currently being in the EU with similar standards they are applied differently. Saying that I think it still makes sense to have it made in Europe as there are many more companies that do it there. With some advance planning it should be possible to avoid the pitfalls we suffered. The key one is the perimeter (“the skirt” as we called it). I have seen trucks that have managed this. The others were just small inconveniences. I would though allow some time and money to make any changes that are necessary when you import it. It certainly makes sense to read the regulations and go through them with your builder. I would be happy to share our experience and talk you through this nearer the time. If it’s after the UK leaves the EU things may change of course!

Enjoy the planning, it’s part of the journey and working on the design of your own vehicle is great fun. Please do get in touch if we can provide any more advice although we do appreciate everyone’s vehicles are different.

I have been following you guys for about 6 months now. Our families have a few things in common. My husband also did his first Ironman last year and we have two children of similar ages. Both my husband and I travelled before children and have now set ourselves up to travel indefinitely. Our mode of choice though is an old Mercedes camper (for the moment!)
After much deliberation we have decided we will drive East through Russia, Kazakhstan etc to Australia. I would love to get a little more information from you if you could spare the time regarding routes through China and Pakistan?

Hi Ciara. If you are coming the opposite way to us I assume you would enter China from Kyrgyzstan. China is expensive because of all the permits (expensive) and the need for a guide (about $120 per day) but there is obviously lots to see. You could just do a short transit via Kashgar and then onto Pakistan. We are doing a big loop as we want to see Tibet. Even with 30 days this is a bit of a rush. Some people form a group to tour China as this splits some of the costs e.g. the guide.
From my experience the best of Pakistan is the North Karakoram Highway. You could easily spend a couple of weeks here. There is lots to see on the Highway itself as well as the side valleys. I wish I had also driven the Skardu Valley. Once you get near to Chillas there are military escorts for at most 200kms. From there you can easily drive in 2 days to the Indian border. If you head to Iran there are more military escorts. With Pakistan it’s really difficult getting a visa on the road as they will often only issue them to you in your country of residence so you may want to arrange this before you leave.
One issue you will need to consider is the current problem with getting anything other than a car or motorbike into Thailand. This pretty much blocks the route to SE Asia.
We have certainly found routes across Asia to be challenging. If you need any more information please feel free to ask.

Hi Steve,
Thank you. That was wonderfully helpful.
I am ashamed to say I need your advice on one more issue. You should charge for your services!
We are leaving in 9 weeks. I can’t believe we are almost there. I am however, struggling to find vehicle insurance for our old Mercedes motorhome. Could you please tell me what you have done regarding motor insurance?
A big thank you.

Hi Ciara. How exciting that you will shortly be starting your trip. You will be starting just as we finish as ours comes to an end in two months unfortunately. Don’t worry about asking for advice, we all do and you will find the overlanding community very helpful. Re insurance this is a perpetual headache. I don’t think you will find insurance for your whole trip. To be honest I don’t hold it as particularly useful anyway. If you end up in an accident in many of the countries you will be travelling through you will end up paying anyway. However where it is obligatory it is useful to have third party insurance if for nothing more to ensure you are legal and can satisfy any policeman who asks for it. So what we have done is either buy insurance at local borders where possible or used a broker who deals with a certain area. Once such broker is Alessie. Details as follows:
Maria M. Alessie
Assurantiekantoor Alessie
Eliotplaats 174
3068 VL Rotterdam
The Netherlands
tel +31 10 4 555 946
fax +31 10 4 555 948alessie@alessie.com
She is able to provide third party insurance for Europe (excluding the U.K.) and also for the Stan countries. For the Stan countries it is an excess on top of local insurance but as many of the countries don’t require insurance then her policy is fine. She is not very good at answering emails so I would send her an email and then call her.

I could not find insurance for Pakistan. For China it’s included in your guided trip. For India and Nepal I used khanabdulwadood@gmail.com.

Not sure of your route after that but if you have any more questions let me know. I hope you have a great trip.

I have been following your adventures since December, 2013 when you were at the campground in Tulum. A coworker’s son and his girlfriend had bought a white Dodge van with too many miles on it and spent that winter driving from Michigan down to Guatemala and back; its wiring was the automotive version of the Millennium Falcon’s hyper-drive. We flew down and camped at Tulum.

I have been wondering how you ship your contents. Articles and shipper’s web pages suggest one is not allowed to have leave anything in a vehicle on a RORO but the shippers’ webs offer no suggestions and I just saw a blog where the people built a temporary wall behind their van’s front seats.

Hi Rick. Good to hear from you. Strictly when shipping RORO you are not allowed to have any personal belongings in the vehicle. We have been told this by all the shipping companies and one even made us sign a form to this effect. In practice we have shipped with lots of personal belongings. The back of our vehicle is separate from the cab so we can lock everything away. We then only give the agent/shipping company the keys to the cab and ignition. Only once, in Australia did they ask to look inside when shipping out. They made us remove foodstuffs and toiletries but left everything else in. It’s something I always worry about although the shipping agents tell me not to worry. We are also aware of people who have built separate areas and these have been fine.

I saw Kevin Mccloud and you plan in Pucon last year I’m also in Overlanding mode at the mo and in my 4X4 Sprintet Just arrived in Pucon and remembered the program Could I visit you Project on an off chance ?

Welcome to India. If your Journey takes you down towards Mumba/Pune/Bangalore do let me know. I would be honoured to host you and Family at Pune and maybe even take you around town. There are quite a number of interesting places here.

I’m doing a bit of research into Overlanding for a new adventure television series we are making (whilst at the same time getting totally seduced by the lifestyle myself!) and wondered if you might be able to help me. The research is because we are dedicating one episode to Overlanding and I was hoping to pick somebody’s brains with a few questions I have. I am hoping to determine a detailed equipment itinerary for a typical Overlanding trip.

Hi there. My husband and I are thinking of shipping our small American motorhome (Provan Tiger) to Australia in the coming months. I would like to establish contact with the hope of being able to ask questions about your experience shipping from South Africa to Australia. I have found your blog posting where you discuss cleaning the truck in preparation, but I am also interested in who your shipping agent was, what paperwork regulations Australia required (insurance, etc.), some costs, etc. Would really appreciate the chance to learn from you. Thanks!

Hi Everyone,
Came across your journey on I Love Siliguri blog and read that you will be heading to Nepal after your adventure in India. I have a blog, lexlimbu.com which focuses on a range of topics related to Nepal. I would love to ask a few questions about your travels so far. Let me know what’s the best way to do this.

Hi Lex, we are all looking forward to going to Nepal at the end of Feb. Probably the best way is to email me directly at gillysnaith@hotmail.com. I didn’t know we were on someone’s blog, I couldn’t see the I love siliguri blog, could you copy me the link, thanks. Best wishes

Spotted you at the small town of teesta. Fantastic job in navigating through the narrow leaves without getting held up. All the best for your future travels. We were doing our bit of overlanding from southern last of India to the eastern part.

Hi guys,
Am loving your blog & story. My husband and daughter and I are embarking on similar trip next Summer & I had one question for you – have you found any guidebooks to be particularly useful for a driving trip? I’ve done tons of travel in the past on public transport, and the Lonely Planet books were great, but, they have large sections on “where to stay” and How to get around – which we won’t need living in our van! Have you found any guides that are good for advising safe places to park for free?
Thank you!

Hi Mary. Glad you are enjoying the blog. No we didn’t find any useful guide books, we use Lonely Planet for general I formation on sights. Do you have the ioverlander app. This is free and is populated by overlanders. It list campsites, free camps and lots of other useful information. You can also see it at http://www.ioverlander.com. Have a great trip.

Hi,
We are heading off in September and we are just getting ourselves trip ready. It’s a small thing, but from past experience fairly important…..could you please tell me the name of you folding camp chairs, if they are any good that is!? I noticed them in your last post and if they are fairly robust then I would like to get hold of them.
Am loving reading your posts as although both my husband and I are seasoned travellers, this is the first time we will head off with our children and it’s nice to see you guys out there doing what we shall be soon enough.
Cheer,
Ciara

Hi Ciara
Our latest camping chairs are made by Outdoor Connection, model Byron. We bought them in Australia. To be honest they are fine but there are plenty of other similar chairs out there. Good luck and I hope your trip goes well.

We are a family of 4 travelling also for a while, also in south east Asie. I am french, my husband grew up in Hong Kong.
We are in Vietnam, heading towards cambodia then Laos, Thaïlande and Malaisia. I would love to meet you guys! We are backpacking, so its quiet different but i am dreaming about a truck… 🙂
please contact us or you can,
Tale care

Thanks for getting in touch. We hope you are enjoying SE Asia as much as we are. We wished we could have gone to Vietnam with the truck too but it requires (yet another) expensive and tricky permit.

We just crossed to Thailand again today and are parked up next to a peaceful lake near Chaing Rai. We only have a couple of weeks in the North of the country before we have to enter Myanmar, where we have to have an escort. How long till you get to Thailand? It would be lovely to meet but I think we might be ahead of you.

Yes you are definitly ahead of us, we are still in Laos and loving it!
Your truck is my dream come true, this is trully inspiring!
And it is a pleasure following you! My husband is an architect and i think at one stage we ll stop somewhere and get our own home on wheels too… Its just a matter of time!
I am also amazed at how rigorous you are with homeschooling! We do maths everyday and read but dont have a routine. I guess its also the problem with backpacking, we spend a lot of time on the bus! Great experience but also enrergy consuming 🙂
Here is our blog, shebatita.blogspot.com so you can also meet us via internet!
Do you have an instagram account?
All the best,
Barbara and co.

I loved your photos on your blog. Are you in Luang Prabang for Christmas or somewhere else nice? Wherever you are I hope you have a wonderful day altogether, making lots of new memories. We are in Assam and have been parked up for a few days to enjoy Christmas before we head off to explore the rest of India. We sometimes struggle with enough data to even post the blog, so haven’t branched out into Instagram.Happy travels and best wishes Gilly

Thanks for getting in touch, it sounds like you are having a great adventure too.

Sorry we don’t have a specific blog post about our choice, just the info on our vehicle page. I guess every overlander has a different criteria on what makes their perfect vehicle. The best way to make a decision about what you need is by a practice trip in a vehicle but it sounds like you are doing that already. For us we wanted something that could manage on rough roads; cope with cold temperatures (as we knew we were going to high elevations in the Andes); a comfortable place to sit when it rains; and have a loo (especially with 2 little girls). However we know families that have done trips all over the world in roof tents or in European standard campervans . Our trip is quite long compared with most, so we probably had more exacting standards.

Have you seen the FB group: International Overland Families? There are a wide range of families and vehicles out there.

Hope that helps, please get back in touch if you have any other question.

Hi, I have come across your blog by accident but love it nevertheless! I have visited Myanmar last autumn and would come back anytime again. Don´t believe what is written on the internet. The people are very friendly and welcome (especially towards blond girls 🙂 and we felt VERY safe all the time (1 week). When visiting Bagan (Pagan?), try not to rent bikes as they are in poor condition. Hire a horse-drawn cart instead, as we did. This will support the poor folks and not the wealthy hotel owners. And, as a bonus, if you are lucky and the cart driver speaks English, you will find an excellent local guide in him. Enjoy your journey !!!!§

You guys are awesome and amazing. Love the blog and will certainly follow along in the future. No immediate plans on our side to (even remotely) replicate what you are doing. But we are planning for a 9 week road trip (with car/camper) within the coming years to allow some extended travel before our little one has to go to school as of age 5 (which is mandatory here in the Netherlands).

Dear Snaith family,
Thanks for sharing your stories! Me and my family (2 kids, age will be 7 and 5) are planning to travel south america and perhaps central america for one year in an overland truck. We are a bit in doubt visiting certain countries because of the safety there… For example Mexico, honduras, Colombia and Peru. How did you experience these countries, did you feel comfortabel travelling here overland with kids?
Thank you very much in advance..
Kind regards, femke

Hi Femke. Thank you for your note. We never felt unsafe in South or Central America with our kids. Yes there are problem areas and yes you should keep your wits about you but generally we were warmly welcomed everywhere. We felt very secure in our truck when wild camping as it is so high so not easy to get into. Where we did have some concerns and before we built up confidence we did use campsites eg in Mexico. We heard lots of negative stories from the press but found the reality much different. In fact the people in Colombia were some of the friendliest people we have ever met. I would definitely go there. Peru has some issues with theft but. Just take normal care and there is so much to see there. With Honduras you can cross in a day as we did but other people we know had no problems. Mexico gets all sorts of bad press but as long as you avoid known bad areas it’s a great country to travel in. Whilst it’s sensible to to make yourself aware of any issues and plan accordingly I would say just go, you and the kids will love South America.

Hello, Hope all is well with you and your family. Great inspiration. Wondering if you have had to deal with lack of ultra low sulfur diesel fuel in many places and how? or if this is not an issue for the MAN vehicle. Thanks for your time, Safe travels.
Trevor
Fort Collins, CO, USA

Hi Trevor, thanks for your note. Our truck has a Euro 5 engine so should use ultra low sulphur diesel. This was something that concerned us before our trip but now to be honest we tend not to worry about it. As you can imagine ULSD is not always available. Where possible we have used it. In some countries we did not think it would be available but certain stations had “euro diesel” or as here in Malaysia Euro 5 diesel. Not all stations had this though. In some countries though none was available and we had to manage on what they had. In practice we have not had any problems with this so it might be down to the MAN engine coping well. I am not very technical but you may want to check out another blog http://www.tuckstruck.net where I think he discusses this in more detail.

Hi Steve, Gilly, Alisha and Lucy,
Yes we have a great tour of Tasmania but like you needed more time.
Ironically last Friday we had to do a run to Ingham and back to visit Sylvia’s mum and
almost called in for a swim at Crystal Creek- it would have been a great surprise to have seen you.
Have a great time in North Queensland.

Hello there the Snaith Family, The DaCaLuF family suggested I contact you. I am a television producer working on series 2 of Channel 4’s Escape to The Wild. The programme follows the lives of Brits who have quit the rat race and have settled in a wilderness location overseas.

Our show is primarily about living off the land and going to a back to basics existence. The research team is currently looking for suitable stories to feature in the series and we’re keen to contact people who may be interested in taking part.

The idea is that the presenter will spend around 5 days living with the contributors experiencing their unique lifestyle. Our ideal scenario is one where the individual/couple/family are living off-grid. A large element of the show is about living in the wilderness, so the larger the element of living off the land, the better.

Any help you can provide is much appreciated. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Hello again Steven
I found a place for getting a map fixed to my van. Thanks for your help with that.
I’m going through the business of getting quotes for taking my van/truck to Halifax later in the year. Then I will travel like you all for at least a year. I wonder, do you intend to publish a post on general finance items such as ferries/shipping/truck insurance/carnets/fuel/food costs etc in the future? This would be incredibly interesting for guys like me following in your footsteps. Even a general idea of some of your necessary travel expenditure would be useful. Have you, for instance, been pleasantly surprised or otherwise by how cheap or expensive things have been overlanding in N America, S America and S Africa (I think I know already how expensive Australia is having done the route there a few years in a hired camper).
Thank you in advance if this is your intention.
Best wishes
Hamish

Hi Hamish. Glad you managed to find somewhere with the signs. We are not intending writing a blog on finance etc. When we started our blog we decided it was going to be about what we did for family, friends and other interested people and a record for when we finished our journey. So we do not keep a record of costs etc. There are many other blogs out there with detailed information on finance, shipping etc. You might want to check out http://www.overlandsphere.com and its associated site http://www.overlandingassociation.org. From our experience everyone’s budget is very different. We have found it breaks down into the following categories. (1) Fuel, averages about US$1 for diesel outside Europe. (2) Food and drink. Depends what you eat but cheaper than Europe and Australia! (3) Accommodation. There is lots of free camping. Especially in US and then Central and South America. Check out http://www.ioverlander. (4) Activities (5) Vehicle costs ie maintenance, insurance etc (6) Moving continent costs ie shipping, flights etc. If I can help with a specific query let me know. Good luck with your planning and your trip.

Hi Steve, Gilly, Alisha and Lucy.
We met you all in Tasmania on that windy beach at Strahan and recommended a couple of camping spots on your trip through to Cradle Mountain. We see you are getting closer to our home town of Townsville. I had promised in Tasmania that I could help you out with some great Bush walking maps of our beautiful Paluma Rainforest in our Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. I may even be able to organise a guided tour of the area by a very passionate bushwalker who has cleared and mapped the tracks on the map over the past 20 years. I don’t know what your schedule is like, however we would be pleased to help if it suits you. I can email you a copy of the map in advance if you like.
Cheers Fil and Sylvia
PS: Gilly has our card with our photo on it and contact details.

Hi. Yes we remember meeting you. Unfortunately we have only just picked up Internet and are now in Mission Beach. We did spend two nights in Paluma NP but mainly relaxing in the waterhole as it was very hot. Thank you though for your kind offer regarding maps. We hope you enjoyed the rest of Tasmania and the rest of your trip.

Thanks for that Steve.
Yes, the normal costs of travel associated with those items you mention are pretty clearly less expensive than being in the real World! Especially taking into account prices in Europe and Australia. I found this while travelling by motorbike long distances in South America and West Africa during 2008-11.
Its always fascinated me though, the mechanics of how folk take these major decisions. Not just from the point of view of embracing “travel” as a full time “occupation”, and in your case as a way of enjoying an extended, meaningful experience with your whole family in tow. For example, many overlanders I’ve met work while they are travelling. Freelancers in the IT field and those who run purely on-line businesses certainly gain financial benefit while enjoying their travels. Others though, who take a long break and are giving up their normal working lives at home, are potentially sacrificing so much more. Thus, the financial dilemna they face is potentially more acute. How long to go for before any openings at home, on return, are realistically closed off ? I am 59 and sold a business after my kids went off to university. Since then buy-to-let investments and other bolt-holes have helped my decision to go travelling. The Grey Nomads you will be meeting in Australia on the road certainly have some interesting stories when it comes to how they mix and match their travel with home life afterwards. At least that’s what I found when I did my circuit of Australia in 2012.
I wonder if any of this resonates with your experience, and whether you have any advice or conclusions on this subject after so much time travelling ?
With best wishes
Hamish

Hi Hamish. Good to hear of your experience. With us, Gilly and I met travelling and always intended to do a long trip. But it kept getting put off with work etc. Then children came along so the trip got bigger. In the end I retired so we could go for a really long trip. No regrets yet.

Hi Steve,
Hope you remember your CEE PwC partner;). I am admiring yours family’s journey. It’s so nice to read your posts and feel that hidden sense of humor from time to time.
Really looking forward to seeing in person one day.
All best 2016 wishes for you, Gill and kids.
Cheers,
Hubert

We have been following your travels with interest as it is something we are in the early stages of planing a trip. We live on the Sunshine Coast QLD (near Noosa) and if you are heading our way would like to buy you lunch so we can ‘pick your brains’.

Hi Rhys and Jane. We are heading to Tasmania tomorrow for a couple of weeks and once we get back will be working our way up the East Coast. I suspect we will be near you towards the end of February so let’s keep in touch.

Hi Hamish. Glad you are enjoying the blog. Re the map the company that built the truck for us sourced it so I am afraid I can not be much help. However we have seen a number of vehicles with a similar map so it can not be that hard to track down. Good luck.

Oh it IS difficult! Hahha! It’s like its the biggest secret on the internet! Ive found exactly these maps for INSIDE but none for the outside of vans. In Germany, here in the UK…its been a kind of hilarious nightmare! So far around 10 emails to other people who have them who also, mysteriously, can’t recall where they came from, or like you had them supplied from the manufacturer.
Ah well…..Ill keep trying.

he steven – by chance i stumbled upon you – great stuff, so there is life after tax like Stewart Always told us – I will see Pmac in Melbourne in may, my daughter will stay with him for a few weeks in a gapyear – i believe you will be there coming months so visit him there, he would love it. Reading this I was struck by lightning, in a year I stop Moscow as well and follow you by boat however. Let’s stay in touch and hello to Gill

Hi guys , we are the couple that came over for a chat at Sukuza with the Tata truck.
Glad you guys enjoyed the park and good luck with further travels, if you need any info regarding SA we have extensive travel knowledge and would be more than willing to help with info, if you guys are comming to JHB or PTA let us know and maybe we can meet up for a coffee…

Sally and I so enjoy following your adventure. We were part of an American tour group (Overseas Adventure Travel) that met you in Hwange, Zimbabwe. Your story intrigued us–we so enjoyed meeting you and the girls in particular.

Greetings – we are a Canadian family of 4 about to start the planning stages of an around the world trip very similar to yours. I would love the opportunity to ask a few questions… do you have an email address? I’ve included mine in this post, if you don’t mind sending me a message, I would appreciate it. Thanks, Mike.

We are a family of 5 (3, 11, 14 yr old kids), planning to start a year long (perhaps longer) expedition starting from California through Central and south America. We are planning to leave just after the 2016 new year. So not a lot of time to plan, and we’ll be relying heavily on experiences of other folks.

What are your thoughts about travelling with a 4×4 truck pulling a travel trailer ? The advantage of taking that path, for us, is the availability of such vehicles in the US.

It’s very difficult to give vehicle advice, as every family is so different and there is always a compromise. In most places that sounds like a good set up, especially where campsites are available. A couple of thoughts though: In southern South America, we were very thankful that we had somewhere to sit, cook and eat inside as it was so cold outside. Friends of ours with a rooftop tent ended up staying in hostels more to stay warm. Also having an onboard loo gave us the possibility to sleep in car parks in the centre of towns and petrol stations, maybe not the most glamorous of locations but handy if there is no other alternatives. It also depends on what style of travel you want to do, we met loads of French families in normal motorhomes who seemed to be able to go to 95% of the places we went. Proving that 4×4 isn’t needed all the time.

Good luck with all the decisions making, packing and getting on the road
Best wishes
Gilly

Hi again Evik, just a thought. If by travel trailer you mean what we Brits would call a caravan (a towed house on wheels, often in the U.S. with slide outs)? If so I think you may struggle with manoeuvrability in small towns, especially in Central America.

Yes, I was referring to a caravan. The though occurred to me that if I tow the “home” with a 4×4 truck (very easy to find in the USA) then I will have the freedom to travel without the caravan to those places which are more difficult to maneuver to.

But your feedback may be the reality check I was desperately in need of… If I cannot maneuver with a truck+caravan, then I’ll be stuck. Going back to the drawing board 🙂

BTW, how do you see the french family’s motorhome different from your solution ?

Hi Elik
I think you are right to rethink the caravan option. The other issue is its strength, they are meant for smooth straight roads. Central America is full of unsignposted huge speed bumps, which would soon put a lot of strain on the caravan. Here in South Africa they have very rugged off roading caravans which look a lot stronger but I think they are only available here. The motorhome option is a lot easier to buy than a expedition truck, like we have, and a lot cheaper. Of course a truck can go to more places, is far stronger and built for off-roading so everything stays in place even on the worst days. As your time is tight are you looking out on any of the Facebook forums like Panamerican travellers association for vehicles all ready kitted out and ready to go?
Hope that helps Gilly

Hello Snaith family! Hope all is well, it feels like ages since we all departed Prague 2 years ago! Im here now and had dinner last night with Martina, and we had a fun trip down memory lane and shared fond memories of you guys so wanted to say hello….Your blog is amazing and you all look wonderful. Cant believe how much the girls are growing up! God bless and safe travels
Laurie (and Lionel)

I am hugely admire what you guys are doing for your children and I am very impressed by your vehicle. So grateful to you for sharing your experience and on such a professionally-made website too. My wife and I are hoping to emulate you when our two children are a bit older. I am very sorry to trouble you but I would really like to ask you how you arrange the seating for your children? I have looked at a lot of possible vehicles but it seems that large trucks like yours do not have a second row of seats in the cab or, if they do, they do not look very comfortable or safe. Or the second row (double cab) means that there is very little space left at the back to build the living accommodation. Do you children ride in the cab with you and if so what is it like for them? Or do your children ride in the living accommodation section? In which case, do they get a view, can they communicate freely with you and do they wear seat belts? From the point of view of comfort and family communication whilst on the road, I am inclining to something like a Land Rover Discovery 3 or 4 pulling a trailer, both of which would be fitted with roof tents. Did you consider (and reject) that kind of set up? Any advice you could give me would be very greatly appreciated. By the way, I’m English but I live in Nagoya, Japan. If you happen to visit Japan you would be most welcome to visit us.

Hi Edward. Thank you for your kind comments about our website. Vehicle choice is always a difficult question and one we spent ages considering and changing during our long planning stages. It’s always a trade off between size and space and comfort. In the end with it been our home for 4 years we went for space and comfort over size. Sometimes we moan how large we are but overall we are happy with our choice. The kids sit in the cab with us. We do not have a double cab but what is known as a sleeper cab ie one that has a drivers sleeping bench behind the front seats. We removed the bench and had MAN install 2 proper seats with seat belts that meet EU standards. As these seats are higher than the front seats the kids can see over us. They are also set in a bit so they can easily see through the front. They are pretty comfortable, an adult could sit in them. To make it more comfortable for the youngest we have a plastic stool in the footwell so she can rest her feet on it. We did consider a land rover with a roof tent and have hired these before in Africa. However we did not feel it would give us enough room. We did not consider a trailer although we see lots of South African families traveling with them here. Admittedly though they are on holiday not travelling long term. The biggest issue you will face with a roof tent is you are outside all the time. This is fine in warmer climes but when it gets colder eg Patagonia and even Southern Africa in winter it’s nice to all be able to spend an evening inside some of the time. People we have met travelling in roof tents seem to get around this by staying in hostels etc some of the time. Also all the French families we meet travelling are invariably in standard European motorhome and they seem to get to 90 per cent of the places we get to. Hope this helps. Steve

Dear Overlanding Family!
Having also lived in a truck for four years, it’s great to see your inspirational trip! We did our big trip around Africa with 2 of us, and then ended up buying a business here and staying! I hope that if you guys make it as far as Malawi you will come and stay with us here at Mabuya Camp – Malawi is an awesome country for travelling with kids. If you don’t make it this far, maybe we can chat over email – I would love to know what your top tips are for vehicle layout as we are hoping that the next big trip is for 4 of us too! Our boys are 6 and 2 and so maybe in three years or so we might be able to get back on the road. Good luck with the African leg of your trip and all the best
Janey

Hi Janey. Great to hear of another family in Africa. I dont think we will get as far as Malawi. Our original intention was to ship from South America to Australia but as the we would need to change ships in Durban we thought we would do a tour of part of Southern Africa on the way. Gilly and I have travelled Malawi before and loved it. I can be reached at stevensnaith@hotmail.co.uk

Hi, your trip looks great and truck something else. We visited South America 2 years ago in a Land Rover and had 3 rd party insurance arranged through Alessie in Holland. We are looking to return later this year, this time in an old Iveco Daily 4×4, more space than the Land Rover, but not quite in your league!

Would you mind letting us know what you have done re 3rd party Insurance as Alessie have stopped providing that service.

Hi Peter. We also used Alessie for South America and are similarly using her for Africa. You could try the Pan American Travelers forum on Facebook. There is often discussion on insurance on that. Good luck with your travels.

Hi guys,
thanks for stopping by on your final day in Buenos Aires.
Amazing website. Reminds me on wee Billy Connolly’s World tour. I’m sure you’re having even more fun.
All the best for your adventureous trip continuation in Durban.
Buen viaje, Arne

Hi guys,
I hope you can help us (we are a family of 3) we travel to Easter Island for December 2015, we find good deals on the internet. On their journey you met karitravel in Easter Island?
Page of them is http://www.karitravel.com/, to stay at a cabin gets booked online or better to reach the island and see in place?
Thanks and we love your page!

Hi Lisa. We did not come across Kari Travel when we were there. We booked in advance through Booking.com. It’s probably safer booking in advance especially if the island is going to be busy. Glad you like our site.

Thanks a lot for giving us a ride in remote Patagonia! We will always remember you as the lovely and generous family who bailed us out when we were hopeless ! You’re story is impressive and we ‘re glad that we had the chance to get to know you! All the best for your journey!

We know you guys from Moscow and just came across Steve’s Facebook page. I have tears in my eyes as I look through the pictures and blogs of your trip. How amazing you guys are! You are an inspiration!

Hi Alistair. How times fly and football fortunes change. We have been very warmly welcomed in Argentina. No animosity at all. Still having a great trip. Had a fantastic trip to Antarctica. May be back in UK for a few weeks in May. If I am in London will get in touch to catch up for a beer.

Hello overlanders family! I just finished to see your pics from Antartica! I am speechless!! I have no words to express this beauty of our planet and how all of you are so happy to have this great opportunity! I have a favor to ask you…as a geography and history teacher, can I show those pics to my students? I have to talk about ecotourism and those pics are right on target!! Thank you very much and it is still interessting to follow you from the “far side” of the world!

Hi James. We have an extended cab. We removed the sleeper bed and put in place 2 separate seats for the kids. These were installed by MAN to meet EU safety standards. You can see more detail on theBocklet website http://www.bocklet.eu

Hello,
I am writing from Manor Green Primary School in Manchester. I have been told about your exciting adventures by Rachel Pickerell, who said that you may be able to help myself and my year 4 children out. I am a teacher and we are currently studying South America. I thought that it would be really great if we could correspond with you as a class and find out about your experiences in South America. Rachel told me that you have a daughter who is of a similar age to my class (8-9) so it might be great fun for her too!
Hope to hear from you soon,
Regards
Claire Borrell

Sorry for the slow reply, we’ve been in Antarctica. That sounds like it would be great for both sides. Sometimes our internet connections are rather infrequent but we would try and reply as soon as possible. We look forward to hearing from you. Gilly, Alisha and Lucy

Dear Overlanding-Family,
being back home in Austria after driving through Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador for 7 month we want to thank you again for the experience on driving the Salar de Uyuni together. We really enjoyed spending time with you!
Wishing you all the best for your ongoing travels! We will follow you on your blog.
Abrazos
Astrid Christoph Io Linushttp://www.bieros.at
By the way – if you meet or know anybody, who would like to buy our motorhome – it is still available (in Ecuador).

for the three of us the end of the big journey has been reached, we are on our way home now. At the moment we are having a stop in Lissabon before we’ll get the flight to Hamburg.We write to all of you in order to thank you. To meet you was inspiring and gave us so much pleasure, it was great to get to know you and spend some time with you, even though it might have been just for a short while. Besides the destinations and days on the road themselves, it was meeting you what made our time in South America to something very special.

What are our plans? Jasper will go to Kindergarten, Markus and I will return to work in the boarding school in February. During the German summer holidays we will return to Paraiso Suizo in Uruguay, get our bus, the beloved Ben(z), to travel for some 5 weeks in southern Brasil and Argentina before selling the bus.

What are your plans? Maybe your route will lead you to the (air-)port of Hamburg or anyhow to the north of Germany, however it would be a great pleasure to see you again. Do not hesitate and feel very invited to contact us, we would love to be your hosts – and we have enough space for your car!

Hi! Reference your tyre issues, we wanted to let you know that we are trying our very best to locate a tyre dealer in Chile that stocks a Michelin tyre to replace your non Michelin damaged tyres. We will keep in touch!

Hi Steve and Gillly,
Since you and your family are nomadic like we are, I thought I’d reach out and let you know about a forum I created especially for families like us. I’m a bit nervous wondering if anyone else will like this idea, or not… but here goes.

Since we quit our jobs to travel indefinitely with our kids, I’ve been searching for a friendly, helpful forum where I can connect with others in our situation, but there is nothing out there!

If by some chance you’re interested in a forum that you can turn to when you just want to talk (ok, type!) to someone who totally gets this nomadic family thing, please check it out. It is totally free to join, and I’d love to see you there – no strings attached.

It’ll be a good place to connect and chat about all the stuff that regular families don’t have to deal with (and quite frankly often don’t want to discuss because it’s just too unusual of a lifestyle… stuff like
-visas
-long-term travel stuff
-the homeschooling thing
-how to give your kids a sense of community when you’re moving all the time
-what to do for Christmas and other holidays when you’re away from everyone back home and often in a country that doesn’t even celebrate that holiday at all etc)
-or even just to vent when you’re having a bad day (and you can’t vent to people back home because they think you’re on a perpetual vacation and have no right to complain haha)

Anyhow, it’s less than a week old, and there is no-one there yet except for me, myself and I at the moment, but you’re in the first wave of people I’m contacting about it, so hopefully it’ll be more active soon, now that more people will find out about it.

If you have any questions or comments about it, I’d love to hear from you!

Thanks David. Yes we hope to get to Australia if we can get through the import quarantine regulations! Everything is pretty much going well with the truck. Our only issues have been relating to tyres, disc brake covers and front suspension. All pretty much caused by the bad roads. The engine, so far has performed great even when using high sulpher fuel. We need to buy some new tyres now and sourcing them in South America is not easy unfortunately. Good luck with your truck.

Hi to you all. Thanks for keeping us up-to-date on your travel adventure. Some of the places you have visited have been stunning – and full marks for the accompanying pics!
We trust you are all well and hope you have a great Xmas wherever that may be!
We will look forward to more travel,reports into 2015
Love and xmas best wishes

I came across your website and enjoyed very very much your travel stories, especially as you travel with 2 children. We are a Dutch family; Frans, myself (Nelke) and 2 boys Pepeijn (13) and Romeq (10) and 2 small dogs: Gizmo & Pluisje. We’re going to start up traveling overland in a 6×6 MAN truck in the beginning of March 2015, as well start up in Halifax and stay in Halifax for 2 weeks during the shipment of our truck. We will stay on the road for appr. 7 years, crisscrossing all the Americas all the way to Montevideo, from here we will ship back to Antwerp. Also home & world school our children, and have a slow travel . more over as Pepeijn suffers of Autism.
Our truck will have a slightly (ahum) higher weigth (about 18 ton) and therefor I was curious about your experiences to selfdrive in the Pantanal, I am not sure if we are able to selfdrive our truck the Transpantaneira or would you advice to rent a 4×4 for this track?
Do you have any good tips & camp spots about the countries visited so far? As I read your stories it seems we have the same interests.

Looking forward to hear from you and we wish you a Merry Xmas and hope to meet up somewhere on the globe!

Nelken. Nice to hear from you and to hear of your travel plans. I am sure you are all excited about it. With regard to the Pantanal the weight limit on the bridges on the Transpantaneira is 10 tonnes. We may have been a touch over that and were fine but I would not want to go much higher . The bridges aren’t great and they are privately repaired so they would not be too happy if you broke one. We met the man who does felt slightly guilty about the strain we had put on the bridges. Saying that the Pantanal is great and it was well worth getting to Porte Joffre to see jaguar. Regarding camping spots one thing you might want to download from the Apple App Store is iOverlander. It’s a free app on which overlanders record their camping spots. Its fairly new but a very useful tool. We have been recording our camping places on there since about September. Have a great Christmas and happy travels.

I wish I could visit you while travelling here but I’m still looking for a car to overlanding. It’ll be a Galloper.
Well, you must check out Ilhabela and region. But watch out the mosquitoes. take some complex B before. If you want, take a boat from Sao Sebastiao to Anchieta Island. there was a prison and has a good story to tell. Back to the continent, visit Paúba (my favorite) and if you want peace (more) visit Santiago. The North Cost of São Paulo is beautiful.
Enjoy!

I really admire what you’re doing and it’s on my bucket list! We’re currently living in the Middle East, but sadly not on your route or I would have asked to meet up. I have given long thought to the vehicle conundrum and, like everyone haven’t found the perfect solution. I am curious about the cab. I thought the only solution was to have a double cab (very hard to find on a 4×4 truck) but you seem to be getting by with a sleeper cab. What’s the set up?
Many thanks,
Ben

Hi Ben. Thanks for your note. We have effectively a cab and a half. The sleeper bed has been removed and in its place 2 proper seats have been put in with proper seat belts. An adult can sit in these but may get a little tight if needed for a long time. No problem for our kids. We have also heard of people who have converted the bed into a bench for 3 children. We looked at a double cab and to be honest they are too big. Good luck.

Was nice meeting you today at the salt lakes. I have had a flick through your site and it looks fantastic. I’ll keep looking. It’s inspirational. Hope you enjoy your route back to Paraguay. We took a dip in the cold Laguna today. Just had to be done. Safe and enjoyable traveling. Jem and Karen Willett x

Wow! Just wow! It’s been a long time since we followed your journey as time seems to go nowhere these days with baby Lucia around! But after finally getting her to bed at a reasonable hour tonight we logged on to your blog and watched in utter amazement at your road trip through Peru and its treacherous cliff hanging roads!! And not to mention the “snug” tunnels! I literally covered my eyes through most of it and Anton laughed and said he thought the roads in Russia were bad until he saw this! Truly amazing and awe inspiring journey we remain fascinated by you and your trip! Keep it coming! Love to you all stay safe love from us 3 xxxxx

Thanks Vicky. I just saw a photo of you and Lucia on fb, she looks gorgeous. I can’t believe you are a new mother with sleepless nights, you look fabulous. You never know Anton, we might make it to the “terrible” roads in Russia one day. I know it I’ll be worth it for the stunning scenery. Lots of love to you all. Gxxx

Hi Juan and family. Nice to hear from you. We have just been out exploring Bogota. We will be here until tomorrow afternoon. We are planning on heading back into Central Bogota tomorrow morning when the museums reopen. We are currently staying near Portal 80 if you wanted to meet and that was convenient. Best wishes Steve and family.

Hi Gilly: I got your blog from Anne Wright and remembered you from IWAP, even once a picnic in the park when Karina Bolan was pregnant with Rori!

What an amazing adventure!!! I haven’t been able to stop reading, I am about to start your Mexican adventure. Wish you are your family a safe and super fun trip thru South America. While in Peru go an enjoy as much food as you can, we are well known for amazing food there.

Will keep reading your blog until I catch up with Panama. Amazing way to teach your girls about the world. Looking forward to what its next.

I was reading your blog about crossing through Honduras and wondered if you could tell me what hotel car park you stayed in overnight near Choluteca. We are heading back north after going to Panama, and would rather not do 2 border crossings in one day like we did on the way done (it made for a LONG day!). Information on a safe overnight spot would be appreciated. Enjoy your journey!
Nancy & Michael

Time is passing by soo quickly since we left Prague for India in 2012. I still remember when you told us about your world tour and now Ines told me about your website. Congrats for that awesome decision and enjoy these years!!

If you are in South East Asia we would love to see you in Chennai/India – maybe Jessica is still here, too?

I hope you are enjoying Channai. We’d love to see you in India but it will probably be in 18 months to 2 1/2 years time though. Hopefully, for us, you will still be there. Jessica is returning to the US this summer, so we will miss her.

Hello Family,
We met only briefly outside of Mazatlan at Punta Cerritos RV Park. We were the little rig (van conversion) parked next to you with the Palapa. Hope that you can remember us what with all the folks you have met. We spoke briefly about your trip and mentioned that we also took a trip across Canada in 1973 with our two boys aged 5 and 2. We also chatted around the pool area. Trust you are all well on your exciting adventure.

Hello Gilly,
We have been following your trip since your Mum told us about it in her Christmas card. What a wonderful time you are having – can’t wait for the next instalment. Hope you have met up with Margaret and that you have a great Chistmas together.
Best wishes,
Rosemary and Alan

I met you at the Community Baboon Sanctuary in Belize on Monday. I’m a freelance writer and would like to interview you sometime. Do you have access to Skype? Please let me know how to get in touch and happy travels!

Just to say Happy Xmas to you all and a big thanks for your blogs which we look forward to reading so much. Enjoy your time with family in Belize and await your next instalment. Stay safe.
Keith & Mo
xxx

Hi Guys
I am loving reading your blog, looks like you are having a wonderful time. I just wanted to touch base to say hi and that I am often wondering what you’re up to. All is good here with us.
Take care, carry on the blogging!
Love
Sara, Andrew, Oliver and Harry x

Hello Fellow Overlanders!
We are Betti and John from the UK travelling in our 12 ton Mercedes vehicle, Burt. I spotted you guys on Calvin’s (Overlanders Oasis) facebook page. What a wonderful vehicle you guys got, well done! Nice website too.

We stayed at Cal and Lyanne’s too (they were/are super nice, and we ended up staying there for… ever!) Right now we are in Belize and about to cross the border to Guatemala (perhaps in the next couple of days) where we are planning to stay for a month or so for Spanish lessons. If you guys happen to scoot that way, we might see each other.
Would be nice to meet you.

Hi Snaith Family,
We continue to enjoy your postings and always look forward to the next one. When you have nothing else to do you may be interested in reading Barbara Kingsolver’s book ‘Flight Behavior’. It’s about global warming and it’s possible effect on the migration of the monarch butterflies. It’s a piece of fiction but very well written. You will really identify with the verbal descriptions of the butterflies hanging from the trees as you have seen them. Safe travels,
Chris and Steve

Hi Chris and Steve
We’ll definitely take a look, it sounds really interesting and I love her writing. I was just telling Steve yesterday about one of her other books “the Lacuna” and the bits about Rivera, Kahlo and Trotsky, and how I wanted to reread it. I hadn’t heard of that one so will try and download it.
Gx

Found your site on overland expo! Really enjoy reading it! I live in Jackson, Wy and saw your rig a couple of times! Flying to Baja Saturday, staying north of Los Barriles, in El Cardonal. Very jealous of your trip. I have a slide in truck camper that i’m going to bring down to Baja next april, although my trip is dwarfed compared to yours, maybe one day i’ll have an adventure just as great, Stay safe!
Chris Richards

Hi guys. I really have to ask this – weren’t you living in Prague in Vilimovska street? We lived there until this August, when we set off to drive from New York to Argentina in a Toyota Hiace. We were enviously looking at a huge white MAN overland vehicle with British plates every time we went shopping in the little Tesco store on the hill. That would be a nice coincidence.

This is AMAZING!
I was wondering if you have a little time could you tell me or point me in the right direction of the logistics of getting the vehicle to Canada and getting insurance and the correct permissions to allow you to drive whilst over there. I am considering doing the same in a Landrover 101 with a small child in tow and any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Your website is a total inspiration! Well done guys 😉

Hi Steve et al. Sitting here in Chicago Airport checking on how you are getting on. Great photos and pleased to see standards are being maintained with regular shaving Mr Snaith! Best wishes for Mexico. KR Alistair H

Greetings from Lagos, dear family Snaith. Great stories from your trip. Still a lot to come, very interesting and inspiring. Just started my Africa tour of duty and settling in well. I could really start liking this hectic place.

Steve, great to see after all your work wide travel that you have finally worked out that Disneyland is actually a pretty cool place. Unfortunately there are none in South America but maybe you can take in Tokyo and Hong Kong on your Asian leg.

Now the US government has sorted out it’s immediate challenges I think you should consider a slight diversion back to Yosemite. I am sure it has more to offer than Mexico! Keep posting the blogs. We are reading

Hello Overland Family!
We too are a family with of a dream of driving around the world with our kids! One day we will be joining you on the road to adventure 🙂 I am American, my partner is Czech and our daughter holds both citizenships. We cant wait to show her, and our other future children all the world has to offer. We currently live in Scotland but wish we were on the road!
So sorry for the US government shutdown and the closure of all national parks. I hope they open again soon! It would be a shame to miss Yosemite and all the other amazing parks the west coast had to offer! Lovely to follow your travels, good luck with everything!

Lovely to hear from you. We are pleased to hear you are enjoying the blog and hope it help inspire your travels. We read loads of people’s blogs during our long planning and saving years.
We loved BryceNP, the hoodoos reminded us a bit of Cesky Raj.
tanks Gilly, Steve, Alisha and Lucy

Hi guys, just saw all the beautiful photos and stories, you all look so chilled. We were in the US in June and July and had a fab time. Colin is back into the football season now and with Ryan at Nottingham Uni and Hazel at Hull Uni. it’s very quiet in our house, look forward to seeing more photos from your next destination. Continue having fun! lots of love Colin, Kamini, Ryan and Hazel xx

Dear Gilly, dear Stephen, Lucy and Alisha,
I wanted to tell you, that you are being missed! But at the same time I am very happy for you and I really enjoy reading your blog. As far as I can see from here as a typical city girl, you are doing fabulous! Please keep the pictures and your “articles” coming. Mathias, Linus, Pippa and I follow your blog.

Gilly – just wanted to let you know how much I’m enjoying reading your blogs. We spent 18 months living in canada- traversing some of the places you have been. Wonderful pictures, great stories and the friendly Canadians I remember from my – much missed and too short – time spent in Canada.
Cheers and all the best to Steve and girls too
Julie

Oh wow! Never thought we’d see the Moraine Lake again. Just as we’d remembered it as about the most sensational sight we had ever seen! Really enjoying the blog – good luck on the next stages and love to you all.

You certainly seem to be enjoying yourselves and it all looks wonderful. We are both fine getting a little cooler now thank goodness. Hope the schooling is going well .a friend at keep fit told me of a programme on Spanish T V about an English couple going around the world with two children who’s wife was a school teacher she thought it must have been you, strange. Anyway love to you all and keep safe xxxx

got your website from Mr. Meinhardt-Bocklet. Best wishes and good luck on your great journey from germany. We are driving nearly the same car which was produced nearly the same time as yours, delivering-date was June/2013. The last 6 weeks we went to Iceland – everything runs perfect. The kids love it.

So we will be inspired on our next tours by reading your blog from time to time. Pherhaps we will see one day – have fun,

Hi Overlandingfamily , Margaret has shown us the blog section of your web site ,we are fascinated to read of your journey so far and will now follow you all with great interest. I shall pass on the info to Miles and Georgie, and Vic and Anton ( in Tenerife ). Rach and family were visited by your Mum today before she arrived here for the week-end, so they have brought up to speed by her.
Love to you all , Lynda.

Hi Steven, Aidan sent me a link to your blog – exited to see you living your dream. By the way with a picture like this you do not need to say that you spent 18 years in Central and Eastern Europe – it is on your forehead, you look like Gagarin in front of Vostok 1 just before the launch :-). Best of luck

Hi, it is funny to see what you are doing. You have visited a lot of places we also have seen. We have started our tour through Canada in Halifax on 4 juin 2013 and we are now in Ontario, Lake on the Woods. In Montreal we were at the same place and have also enjoyed the fireworks.
Perhaps , there is a chance to meet you on the way….
Safe trip and a lot of fun for the whole familie
Henny and Michael

It is my first touch with your website and we feel that we are a little part of your trip…:) I am wondering if it is possible to have an e-mail adress to send you the “great pic” at the gas station! We wish you the best for the next months and years! I will follow your trip with my students …so interesting!

Hi. I’m the romanian annoying guy with 100 questions in 5 minutes, that you met on the Cabot Trail. I can’t tell you how happy I am to have met you. I was there on a motorcycle trip from NY. One thousand miles away and I taught I was cool. Than I met you. You made my ride feel like a Sunday morning short ride. I so wish I could follow you. Impossible. But what not impossible is to meet you again somewhere. Hey, I got 3 yrs to plan this. Happy traveling, I read your blog everyday and you’re such a great inspiration. I think and talk about you every day.

Ok – Alison has finally shown me Gilly’s Facebook page (am still something of a refusenik when it comes to all forms of social media), figured that the promised trip has started and found the blog (which I am up to following).

You said 15 years ago that you wanted to do something like this – which frankly seemed utterly mad to me at that point – but absolutely delighted for you that it finally happened.

A friend of mine on a motorcycle trip met you yesterday. I posted your website on my facebook page so others can follow your trip. I live in FL. so it looks like you are staying well clear of here. Do you have a facebook page for the adventure.?
Safe Travels.
Jon

Steve & family, hello there.
We are travelling to Halifax and the North East of Canada from 9 to 18 Aug. would be good to catch up if our timings match. Else, plan your travel route through Toronto and can use our home for the stopover.
Goodluck and all the best for your world adventure trip.
Altaf

Hi Steven it’s great to see your home for the next couple of years mum phoned Joanne today and she told mum the website so we will all be able to see you on your adventure will keep in touch your cousin Lynn xx